1000 Friends Board of Directors

PresidentKurt Koehler
Business Owner, Hillsboro

Kurt is CFO and co-founder of Kryptiq Corporation, the leading provider of next generation connectivity solutions for healthcare. Prior to Kryptiq, Kurt spent 20 years at Intel in a variety of roles including finance, product marketing, general manager, plant manager and director of internal application development. Kurt received a BA from Stanford in 1977 and an MBA from Wharton in 1981. Kurt and his wife Mary live in downtown Hillsboro where they raised seven children. Kurt is a founding board member and past president of the Hillsboro Schools Foundation and a board member of the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce.

Vice PresidentMike McCarthy
Farmer, Parkdale

Mike was born and raised on a small farm in Roseburg. After obtaining both a BS and MS in agriculture from Oregon State University, Mike went on to earn his a PhD from the University of Michigan. He and his family returned to the Hood River Valley in 1980 to expand the family farm that his grandfather settled in 1910. Mike has served on the 1000 Friends of Oregon Farm Advisory Committee before joining the board of directors in 2010. Mike has also served on the Hood River Valley Residents Committee, the Hood River Grower Shipper Association, the Crystal Springs Water District Board of Directors, and Middle Fork Irrigation District Board of Directors. He is also currently serving on the Parkdale Valley Land Trust Board.

Secretary/Treasurer
Andrew HadenRenewable Energy Developer, Portland

Andrew Haden is President of Wisewood, Inc., a biomass energy project development firm based in Portland. His firm develops renewable heating, combined heat and power (CHP) and district energy systems for institutional, commercial, government and industrial clients across the Western US. Andrew has an MS in Rural Development from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden and a BA in Sustainable Agriculture from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. After completing his Masters degree in Sweden, Andrew lived and worked in Scandinavia before returning home to his native Pacific Northwest to work in local food system development and biomass energy. Prior to founding Wisewood, Andrew worked at Bear Mountain Forest Products and Ecotrust.

John V. Allcott III, MD
Physician, Eugene

John and his wife, Beth Hunt, arrived in Oregon “for 8 months” in 1978, and never left. He has practiced internal medicine in several Lane County communities, now with offices in Eugene and Veneta. Opposed to the West Eugene Parkway, John created a non-profit to study threatened plant and butterfly species in the path of the proposed road. Failure of that road project gave birth to the West Eugene Collaborative, a group which seeks to address transportation issues; he is a member. John also serves on the boards of Lane Independent Private Practitioners and Cease Fire Oregon.

Lisa K. Bates, Phd
Professor, Portland

Lisa K. Bates, PhD is Associate Professor in the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. Her research addresses social justice in housing policy and planning, focusing particularly issues of institutionalized racism in policy design and implementation, regulatory barriers to fair housing, and African-Americans' experiences in the housing market. Dr. Bates has engaged in research and policy formulation with a variety of community partners, including ACORN Housing Corporation in New Orleans and Chicago, the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, the Portland Housing Center, and PolicyLink.

Jim Gilbert Business Owner, Molalla

A fifth generation Oregonian, Jim is the founder and owner of Northwoods Nursery in Molalla. Jim has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Oregon Association of Nurseries and serves on the 1000 Friends Farm Advisory Committee. Iim was also the President of the Molalla Community Planning Organization for 10 years and helped lead successful efforts to prevent a gravel mine on 100 acres of prime farm land near the Molalla River and to defeat a proposed Urban Reserve on 100’s of acres of farmland surrounding the City of Molalla. Jim has a degree in Russian Language from Portland State U. and has traveled extensively in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries of the former Soviet Union as well as in Asia and Eastern Europe. He has introduced many new plants to Northwest gardeners, including Sea Berry, Honeyberry, Magnolia Vine, and Cornelian Cherry.​

Steve GutmannEntrepreneur, Portland

Steve spent his early years in Switzerland and Quebec, and was 8 years old when his family moved to Oregon. One of four children, he spent many summer vacations camping and hiking throughout the Pacific Northwest. Since earning his BA from Dartmouth College, he has helped grow several businesses that are both profitable and environmentally beneficial. He has held business development roles for ShoreBank Pacific, Flexcar, Green Leasing, LLC and EcoSecurities. Steve is married with two young daughters, lives in Portland, and also serves on the board of Focus the Nation.

Anyeley Hallova
Urban Designer, Portland

Anyeley Hallova is a development professional at project^ with a range of experiences from mixed-use sustainable developments to large-scale urban master plans. Before joining project^, Anyeley worked with Gerding Edlen Development and AECOM. Anyeley has a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University, a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Systems Technology from Cornell University. She is also a published researcher and writer, a member of the Urban Land Institute, and a member of several public advisory and design committees.

Nolan Lienhart
Urban Designer, Portland

Nolan is Associate Partner and Director of Planning and Urban Design at Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, where he specializes in mixed-use and transit-oriented development. He left Portland to attend Colgate University, where he developed a passion for urban planning, and a desire to return to help protect Oregon's world-renowned reputation for livable communities and environmental stewardship. On the way home, he stopped to work as a policy assistant to Congressman Earl Blumenauer in Washington, DC, and earned a Master of City Planning and a Certificate of Real Estate Design and Development at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design. Nolan also serves on the boards of the Bus Project and the Center for Innovative School Facilities.

Elisabeth Lyon
Community Activist, Portland

Elisabeth received a BA in Art History from Mt. Holyoke College and a Masters in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a professional planner in North Carolina, Maryland, and Oregon. In the non profit sector she has served on boards that include Pathfinder International, the Dean's Advisory Council of the PSU College of Urban and Public Affairs, the PSU Museum of the City, The Library Foundation, Saturday Academy and Planned Parenthood of the Columbia Willamette. She is married and has two adult children.

Jean Pekarek
Community Activist, Enterprise

Jean has lived in Wallowa County for thirty years and splits her time between running the family business and coordinating services with the County Developmental Disability Program. She has been an active volunteer in various community groups and local non-profit organizations ranging from the Wallowa County Economic Action Team to Fishtrap, Inc., and co-founded the Wallowa Land Trust in 2004. Her involvement in land use planning spans 20 years and focused primarily on protecting resource land and the Wallowa Lake Basin.

Christian Richmond
Orchard Manager, Newburg
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Born and raised in Portland, Christian received a BA in Political Science and Religious Studies from Vanderbilt University, and a MA in International Law from the American University in Cairo. After spending time in Palestine and Sri Lanka monitoring elections and documenting human rights abuses, Christian returned to Portland to attend Lewis and Clark Law School. In 2012 Christian moved to Yamhill county to manage hazelnut orchards. He serves on the board of the Herbert A. Templeton Foundation and is active in local young farmer groups in the state.

Ben Unger
Executive Director, Hillsboro

Ben Unger has a record in politics that stretches back to his days in student government at the University of Oregon. After a stint in Chicago working with the Student PIRGS (Public Interest Research Group), Unger found his way back to Oregon to face a battle that hit close to home – and his family’s farm in Cornelius. Unger jumped at the chance to become field director for the Yes on Measure 49 Campaign, an effort that successfully scaled back Measure 37 by prohibiting large-scale development claims. Measure 49 provided appropriate relief to those eligible for Measure 37 claims while also protecting Oregon’s farms and forestland from claims to build massive subdivisions, shopping malls, billboards and – in one notable case – a pumice mine. Unger didn’t rest for long after the Measure 49 victory. He then went on to manage John Kroger’s successful campaign for Attorney General then served as Kroger’s Chief of Staff at the Department of Justice, and later as Executive Director of the Oregon Senate Democratic Leadership Fund. In November 2012, he was elected to represent House District 29 in the Oregon Legislature. Today, he serves as executive director of Our Oregon, an organization dedicated to fighting for economic and social fairness for all Oregonians.

Jim Wood
Rancher and Veterinarian, Post

Jim is a rancher and large animal veterinarian and a lifelong Oregonian. He and his family have a cow/calf operation in Post, Oregon. Jim received his undergraduate degrees (B.A. and B. Sc.) at Oregon State University and completed his education with veterinary degrees (B.V.M.S. and M.V.M.) from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He returned in 1992 to live full time at the ranch and to establish an ambulatory veterinary practice. Jim is a past and founding member of both the Crook County Watershed Council and the Crook County Weed Management Area. He is a former two term president of the Crook County Stockgrowers Association and a past member of the County Line Water Improvement District in Morrow County as his family also has farming interests in Morrow and Washington counties. Jim was also a member of the Oregon Small Woodlands Legislative Committee as well as 1000 Friends Regional Advisory Committee in Central Oregon. Jim is married and has a teenaged son.